FOUR NASCAR XFINITY SERIES DRIVERS BATTLE FOR A $100,000 BONUS DURING THE 2015 FOOD CITY 300 AT BRSITOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY

Saturday, August 15, 2015

It's wreckers or checkers in the 2015 Dash 4 Cash at Bristol Motor Speedway (BMS) on Friday, and no one knows that better than Regan Smith. Smith took today's Nationwide Children's Hospital 200 checkered flag with a classic bump and run in the final turn at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

Dash 4 Cash is a one-of-a-kind incentive that rewards the highest-finishing eligible driver in four designated races. To win the bonus, the winner of the Dash 4 Cash bonus must only be the highest finisher out of four fellow competitors.

Regan Smith won the first round by beating his competitors to the checkered flag at Dover International Speedway, and triumphed again in the XFINITY Series race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Smith finished an overall third and seventh, respectively, in those races.

The Food City 300 is the third installment of $100,000 bonus payouts. The final Dash 4 Cash race takes place September 5 at Darlington Raceway.

"Every race at Bristol offers a lot of bumping and banging, but this race-inside-a-race concept will take the action on the track and the entertainment to the next level," said Jerry Caldwell, executive vice president and general manager of Bristol Motor Speedway. "The $100,000 bonus is nearly double what an XFINITY Series race winner takes home, so you know these teams will put it all on the line to win the Food City 300."

In addition to the $100,000 bonus, Regan Smith and his JR Motorsports team have extra motivation to field the best car they own at Bristol. Having won two previous Dash 4 Cash purses, Smith is the only driver currently eligible for an additional $600,000 in winnings. To claim the prize, Smith has to take home the Bristol Dash 4 Cash bonus and then place first overall in Darlington's XFINITY Series race. Should Smith be so lucky, he'd collect the first in-season $1 million dollar paycheck in the history of the XFINITY Series. (Editor's note: the $1 million total is comprised of four $100,000 race payouts, plus the additional $600,000 bonus.)

This won't be an easy task for Smith. In 11 NASCAR XFINITY Series races at Bristol, he has one top 5, four top 10s and three DNFs (did not finish). Smith's Dash 4 Cash challengers will certainly give him a tough run for his money. In Daniel Suarez's first outing at BMS in the spring, he finished second, only behind NASCAR Sprint Cup Series star Joey Logano. Ryan Blaney is the defending Food City 300 race winner and Elliott Sadler has two XFINITY Series wins and one Sprint Cup win at the World's Fastest Half-Mile.

In addition to the $100,000 bonus, the Bristol Dash 4 Cash winner and the top-three qualified finishers of the Food City 300, will advance to the final event at Darlington Raceway.